Trawling gear



Nov. 3, 1931. J. B. .1. A. wem-:RON

TRAWLING GEAR Filed Jan. 13, 1931A /NvEN TOR:

:.renn- B nP-n sn; .ToszPH HLPHoNse VlcsNeRoN FlTTORNEYS Y Pnartderted Nov. A3,1931 Y e ',UNITED STATES f rasant JEAN BAPTISTE JOSEPH; 'AI'.PIIoNsI: vIGNERoN-,orina Itocirrzrlrirz, FRANCE, AssIGNoR Y v T ov. D. LIMITED, OE;.LQNDQN.ENGLAND v Y kapplication mea January 13, 1931, serial Nofseanes, nuji ifrance .raiiifry 13, 19550, l

'Ifh'e'i'invention relatesl to trawlin'g gears,

' .and more specially to trawling, gears as dis- *closedy in my prior specification No. 409,065,

filed November 22, 1929, Ythat is to fishing vgears,wherein the net has no belly nor; foot rope, thevrearV pocket being provided with a rigid armature towed exclusively by'traction cables to which are suspended weighted bands Vof net fabric adapted to. seal the joint betWeen the lower edges ofthe covering sheet andthe ground.

One object of the small rope at the entrance of the rear ypocket by a rigid bar rotatably supporting a number of rollers adapted to lread1ly ride Y ,i ,over yobstacles of the ground. I am aware of prior nets in which the ground rope 1s provided with rollers, but inasmuch assaid rope-r is not rigid and assumes while fishing a catenary Vcurved shape, the axes of the rollers,

Yparticularly the outer rollers, are strongly inclinedto the perpendicular to the line of travel, so that such rollers areV prevented .f

- from freely rotating and efficiently operating., Furthermore, the provision of a rigid 'bar for replacing the foot rope of usual nets was out kof question, due to the great transverse length of the ground rope .(some l() to metres) and experience has shown that a rigid barof such lengthwill be soon bent to an acute angle, although made veryT thick and strong. In the present net, the width ofthe entrance of the rearpocket is about 1 metre -to 2 metres, and the rigid bar has been found to properly'resist ie-Xion. l

In experiencing my new trawhng gear, I also'found that the weighted bands ofnetting suspended from the traction cables of the rear pocket are soon worn out through rubbing on the ground and I have found that rbands' of metal netting would properly resist and efliciently preventthe fish from esc'aping. It is another object-of my invention yto provide the net with such bands of metal.'

netting. n

y In the accompanying drawings:

Fig/1 is a plan view of my improved net. Fig. 2 is a side view thereof.

Fig. 3 shows a detail of ythe curtain-like4 Ymetal netting bands. f

the invention is to replace Referringt'tbi'the" drawings, 4 denotes the rear pocket' nof the'netffhaving at itst entrance f arigid*structurercomprising lower rigid bar 71 iffo'r example a steel tube, and vertical struts v`76.-v 'Bar 71' has rotatably v`Inounted thereon a number ofrollers 72 and-is attached to towingicables 8, the upper part Aof struts 76 being connected by inclined cables i,7 7 to cables 8 lisa half-funnel shaped covering Shetfattached to cables 8, whereby fthe net has nolbelly norfground rope,y the lower sheet of therear pocket being bounded"y at the front by rbar 571. y Cablesk Sare attached byfa'crow-y foot 97 to avertical slot 66, connected by the tow`v hawsersto the usualfshear boards 'or the like (not'sho'wn);fy "1 jf'" f 'F rom cables 8 are'suspended bands ofinetal 1,1"ett'ingf-78f adaptedl to `rub 'on the' ground and -thus's'eal the-joint between' cables 8 and the ground. Such bands are Vpreferably made v( Fig.l V3)-of interlinked metal rings 103, like a c oat offmaily "f 5*" lvesidesvitsfunction ofireadi'ly riding over obstacles' and thusprotecting the rearpocket from wear, bar 71 is useful in preventing entanglement of the various cables and steadies the whole structure. It also assists in the proper launching of the gear at sea, due to its Weight. The attaching means for cables 8 preferably comprise a swivel. The lower sheet of the rear pocket may be attached at spaced points of bar 7l,V between the rollers, or it may be provided at the front with a rope located rearwardly of the bar and kept thereby at such vdistance from the ground that it cannot catchj with obstacles.

Preferably, rings 103 are made of non-rusting metal orare lined with a suitable protect-V ing coating. They may be provided with projections, hooks or points adapted to scratch the'ground, raise clouds offmud and dig out y lcovering sheet. and rearxpocket. Thus, the

` latter may consist of a small ottertrawl net, with'panels attached at the entrance, of a small VD net with stretching slats at the ends of the wings, yof a small buf net,

formed of two lateral parts sewed along up- 'I i' y. Y 1,836,215

per and lower middle cables, with stretching slats at 'the ends of theV wingsfetc. v y l Having now described myinvention what I claim as new and desire tojsecure by Letters l,Patent is: I 1. In a trawlinggear, a net'eomprising.a rear pocket, ta V-rigid bar atjtlie lr'ont lower edge thereof7 rollers rotatably mounted on said bar, traction cables attached to said bar l 10 Eind a jCVBIflgJSlG Aatiilled 't6 S"1d i`(ab'ljS.Y Y 2.111 a trawling gear, ant'comprisinlg a` A rigid structure at the 'entrance of 'thenrearl Y *e Vpocket and embodying af'lower rigid"bar,H rollers rotatably mounted Mon said bar, trac-Y i5 tion cables'attachedto said'bar and a doyen Y ing' lsvlfieet-attachedPtosaid Cables. I, 1 f 3: Y:111.:121;traW'l-ijlfle` geen-zia;Het-Cmprsnge rear poelet,V tractionables for said reajrlpock#v j @e fa a COYer-n'gf Sheet ttached: t0 Said Cables 2G n-d bands otmetal nettingsuspended from saidcables, l' y i A -trawling gear as jclaimed inclaim 3, whereinsaid metal `I ietting eonsistso-f inter- 'li-rrked metal ring-s. l V1 j ,Y 425' :In-a `tls'hing'net, a rigidbar, rollers rof tatablyirnounted on r`said bar,arear pocket Gables .attached to Said bar, bands of netting s i1spended`fron1 said Qablesand a covering y 39 sheet extending forwardly ofsaidrear pocket and attached to said traction cables. y

6. yIn afshing ,lnetasmall' lottertrawl net forming-'the'rearjpolret`, traction cables attaehedto the fpanels ofsaid ottertrawl net, a as Covering sheetfattached YtoV said 4eables,j-and bands of netting suspended 'trom saidl cables. l In testimony whereof I have ,signedmy 11am@tethsnecication- 1 e l Y l JEAN BAPTISTBJOSEPH ALPHONSE -VI-GNERONQ adapted to beY towed 4by saidfbaiytraetion y 

